The time is growing
short.
It is the end of an age
and mankind is racing irreversibly into a time
of ever-greater chaos and confusion. A time of great commotion and
disturbance.
A time of pandemonium. A time of stark contrasts. It will be as
Ecclesiastes
3:8 reveals, “a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war
and a time
for peace.” A time that has been prophesied by men of God and
written in
the book of God.
As Christians this should not take us by surprise. In a few short days
or years
the Lord will return for His church. Then the judgments of God will
fall with
relentless inevitability upon the unbelieving inhabitants of the Earth.
And man
will, as predicted in scripture, clench his fist and curse the God of
Heaven
and Earth.
We are living today at
the conclusion of an era. An era that is being
driven and defined by the commotion and perplexity of unfamiliar
“tomorrows.”
An era of such convulsive complexities that they seem to transcend the
limited
capacities of human comprehension. We are living in a time where the
destinies
of our world, our nation, and our individual lives seem to balance on
the
uncertain possibilities of what tomorrow may bring.
Peace
of mind is a foreign concept
amidst the daily tumult of the world we are living in today. The riot
and
clamor of each new day compels our souls to try to distinguish between
that
which is reality and that which is deception. Trapped within the
confines of
their own limited perceptions, humanity strives each day to bring some
semblance of order or sensibility to a decaying world.
The
times of vast delusion are rapidly approaching.
(2 Th 2:9) “The
coming of the lawless one will
be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of
counterfeit
miracles, signs and wonders,
2 Th 2:10 and in
every sort of evil that
deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to
love the
truth and so be saved.
2 Th 2:11 For
this reason God sends them a
powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
2 Th 2:12 and so
that all will be condemned who
have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. ”
There will be times of
exceptional spiritual opportunity as the Spirit
of God is poured out like a mighty flood in various parts of the world.
But
there will also be intense spiritual antagonism, animosity from the
spiritual
realms unlike anything the world has ever experienced before. The time
is
indeed short and the enemy of our souls has an eye on the timetable.
Revelation
12:12 declares, “Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell
in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to
you! He is
filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
The time is short and
we are living in increasingly accelerated times.
Times of fast food, fast knowledge, and fast money to satisfy our fast
paced
lives.
But there is a great
emptiness at the center of the whirlwind of our
hurried existence. An emptiness shaped by the disappointment and
disillusionment
that is the inevitable result of our fast-paced fleshly strivings for
temporary
inner fulfillment. The great void we are experiencing inwardly is the
absence
of lasting inner peace and true spiritual joy.
This deficit can never
be remedied by the manufacture of man. It is not
a device that it might be fixed by human ingenuity. Nor is it an
ailment that
it might be healed by temporary circumstances of happiness. Rather, it
is a
state of being which exists as a product of sin.
Lasting peace and true spiritual joy cannot be found
in
life’s fast lane. Lasting peace and joy can only be experienced as we
allow the
great emptiness within to be regenerated and rehabilitated by the power
and the
presence of the living God.
This is the great
deception; that apart from God we can achieve
wholeness, contentment and fullness of life. In the coming times of
ever
greater chaos and disorder, men will embrace this deception like never
before
in the history of the world.
The words of James reach out over the centuries to bring us a stern
admonition.
A warning about the decadence and deception of seeking temporary
fulfillment
through self-centered determinations:
James 5:1 Now listen,
you rich people, weep and wail
because of the misery that is coming
upon you.
James
5:2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.
James
5:3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will
testify
against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in
the last
days.
James
5:4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your
fields
are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached
the ears
of the Lord Almighty.
James 5:5 You
have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence.
If,
as Christians, we
believe the deception that abundance of life can be found within the
framework
of this world, we will undoubtedly strive to imitate the people of this
world.
We will forfeit spiritual freedom and inner contentment for the
occasion of
temporary happiness.
Abundance of life can
only be experienced as we allow the great
emptiness within to be regenerated and rehabilitated by our surrender
to the
life-changing power of the living God. Abundance of life will never be
found in
the accumulation of things. It can only be discovered through our
submission to
the transforming power of God’s redeeming grace. Our submission, our
unconditional surrender, to the saving and transforming power of God’s
grace is
the only authentic avenue to lasting inner peace and joy.
When we speak of
surrendering our lives to the power of God’s grace, we
are not simply speaking of what we must do for God. The unconditional
surrendering of our lives to the power of God’s grace requires
something of
significantly greater substance than self-effort. God has very little
substance
to work with when we believe that surrender is mostly about what we
must do for
God. Surrender is, in fact, mostly about what God must do for us. What
God must
do for us and especially, in us.
The unconditional surrender of our life to God must first be prefaced
by an
attitude of brokenness within the heart - because surrender has
legitimate
substance only as it emerges from the ashes of true brokenness.
Biblical brokenness is the consistent attitude of the heart that we
need God’s
help, while surrender is the active acknowledgment that God must do for
us what
we can not do for ourselves. Biblical brokenness is the consistent
attitude and
active acknowledgment that only God can save and sanctify us. That only
God can
transform our inner being. That only God can make us holy through our
faith in
the spilt blood of Christ Jesus. Biblical brokenness and surrender is
the
consistent attitude and active acknowledgment that only God has the
power to
make us righteous and make it possible for us to act out this
righteousness in
our daily lives.
The kingdom
of God is a
kingdom of everlasting peace
and joy. As Christians, through our faith in Christ, we have been
granted
permanent residency within this kingdom. But there is more to the
Kingdom than
living within the Kingdom.
By the grace of God, we now live in that kingdom - but - are we
allowing the
kingdom to live in us? Are we, each day, inwardly experiencing the
peace and
joy of the eternal kingdom or are we being driven along by the distress
and
worries of the world? Are we resting inwardly in abundance of life
through
Christ or are we habitually striving to manipulate the people and
circumstances
of our lives hoping to experience a temporary contentment within?
In whose
dominion do we actually live each
day? The dominion of the kingdom of the world or the dominion of the Kingdom of God? Have we become subjects of
the Kingdom
of God by the
blood of Christ only to be
ruled inwardly by the chaos and confusion of the kingdom of the
world?
The kingdom that rules us inwardly is the kingdom that has
dominion in
our lives.
In the increasingly fierce and violent times ahead, we must surrender
to the
expansion of the Kingdom
of God within
us
if we are truly to experience, daily, the kingdom benefits of God’s
supernatural peace and joy.
The expansion of the Kingdom
of God within us
is
accomplished by the character of Christ being perfected within us. It
is Christ
being perfected in us that separates us from the ongoing stresses and
anxieties
that arise from the conflict and chaos of this world. It is Christ
being
perfected in us that provides us with the daily protection of His
everlasting
peace and joy. It is the character of Christ being perfected within us
that
empowers us to experience the benefits of scriptures like Phil 4:6…
Phil 4:6 Do not
be anxious about anything, but
in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests
to God.
Phil 4:7 And the
peace of God, which transcends
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.
It is the character of Christ being perfected within us by our faith in
the
power of God that increases the territory of the Kingdom of God
within us and brings to us the kingdom benefits of God’s supernatural
peace and
joy.
Simply
put - God’s supernatural peace and joy are the product of the character
of
Christ being perfected within us.
The time is growing short.
James 4:13 Now
listen, you who say, "Today
or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry
on
business and make money."
James 4:14 Why,
you do not even know what will
happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a
little
while and then vanishes.
We do not even know
what tomorrow will bring.
True, lasting, inner
peace and joy can be experienced if we are
willing to surrender our frantic preoccupation with the temporary
gratifications of this world and turn and allow our souls to be
rehabilitated
by the power and the presence of the living God.
We can choose to access
the sanctifying power of the cross of Christ
that our very lives may become a sign, a symbol and a declaration of
the
goodness of God and His love for mankind.
The character of Christ
developed within the soul of Christian men and
women can be a victorious flagship upon an end-times ocean of growing
despair
and desperation. The soul that has discovered spiritual rest through
faith in
the finished work of Christ will be a brilliant light in the midst of
the
ever-increasing darkness of iniquity and depravity. The saint that
dwells
restfully in true inner peace and spiritual joy will be a beacon to the
anxious
and striving multitudes of humanity fruitlessly seeking fulfillment of
self
through worldly design.
These are the
privileges of opportunity and possibility that God has
blessed us with in these last days. We have been truly blessed in these
troubled
times with the opportunity of freedom from excessive anxiety and undue
worry.
We are blessed with the opportunity of immunity from the ravages of
fear and
distress. We are blessed with exemption from the misery and grief that
will
afflict a self-centered humanity with ever-increasing intensity as
mankind
refuses the everlasting peace and joy that are found only in the grace
of
God.
It is the end of an age and mankind is racing
irreversibly
into a time of ever-greater chaos and confusion. The time is growing
short… and
we should not be found muddling about in profitless bewilderment as are
so many
Christians in this day.
Ours is the
opportunity of the blessing of the supernatural peace of God. A peace
which
transcends all understanding - guarding our hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus. A
peace that transcends the fluctuating situations and circumstances
which make
up our daily lives. A peace that brings us blessed assurance in a world
full of
uncertainty – confidence in the midst of a world overflowing with
insecurity.
The time is
growing short. But the peace and joy of Christ being formed
within us is
a timeless kingdom, everlasting...
